by N. Heller
The siblings did not seem to pay any attention to it but were instead looking at the view outside. Rena beckoned for the grayish brain with her hand. "Let's go. We should look at each station," Rena said cheerfully as if they were out on a picnic. Rena's attitude provided Lin Sanjiu with some sense of ease—after she was killed by those duoluozhongs, she would be lying if she said that she wasn't traumatized by that experience.
"That's right. It is such a waste of time if we always return to the same station!" Reno agreed as he delivered a kick to the man at the door. Smoke immediately rose from the spot he kicked. The pale man hissed sharply before turning and escaping far into the dark tunnel.
Apparently, the man from the urban legend of 'the man staring from the window of a traveling train' was pretty weak.
"People from Twelve Worlds Centrum certainly deserve their reputation ." Lin Sanjiu floated over to Rena carefreely and sat on the girl's shoulder. Then, she spelled the words, "Why can you two touch them". Spelling out the long string of words seemed difficult, but she was starting to feel, perhaps mistakenly, that it was easier for her to control her higher consciousness now. She could almost control it as fast as her thoughts and she found herself completing the question in a quick, smooth sequence.
"Oh, didn't I mentioned this before?" Reno replied while he looked at the station distractedly, "We prepared our outfits specifically for this world. Our shoes act as a sort of black matter medium... Originally, we can't even see them but we intentionally allowed black matter to corrode our eyes."
"We used all sorts of water, eye drops, eyewash... My eyes were red for a few days." Rena quipped.
"That's a method!" Lin Sanjiu almost lamented. Needless to say, Mrs. Manas shouted in a predictable manner, "Look at them!"
Ignoring Mrs. Manas, Lin Sanjiu 'surveyed' her surroundings. This station was as empty as the other stations. Lin Sanjiu had no idea when those duoluozhongs, which just alighted, disappeared. There wasn't a single living thing apart from the three of them. Lin Sanjiu realized that she could see the quiet streets in the residential area through the train windows. It had only been a few hours, but Lin Sanjiu could feel that she had recovered a significant portion of her higher consciousness. Every time she regained some of her higher consciousness, she could see clearer and further, as if someone whose eyesight was improving. At the same time, she felt that the size of her brain form was increasing, it was slowly expanding from the portion where the card of her body was hidden. " Am I slowly regaining my higher consciousness? Should I try to make a mouth?"
"Don't even think about it," Mrs. Manas made her give up her plans. "I already used higher consciousness to 'scan' the entire structure of your head. Every time you gain a bit of higher consciousness, a part of your current form would be sculpted according to your original body... Have you ever seen anyone with a mouth on their brain?"
Lin Sanjiu stopped thinking about it. " That's right." If she had to sculpt her own body, she really didn't know how it would turn out and what she could do if it didn't match her body.
As the two siblings were not spirits, they naturally couldn't hear the conversation between Lin Sanjiu and Mrs. Manas. As they were in a B-level world, and because it was their first trip there, all of them knew that they had to be cautious. Reno led their group, holding a flashlight, while Rena stayed in the rear. Meanwhile, the grayish brain floated sluggishly in the space between them. In this formation, the three of them left the train station.
This was the first time that Lin Sanjiu didn't have to be responsible for the safety of the group. If anything happened, nobody expected her to be the first person to rush out to fight. She was relaxed and even felt that it was a little too hard to adapt to her current status. All she could do was to 'look' at their surroundings, hoping that it would help the siblings a little.
A strong beam from Reno's flashlight tore through the darkness revealing a quiet residential area. There were rows and rows of similar-looking residential buildings. The roads segregated them into a few districts and each of these districts was very orderly. It was as though they were designed with very strict measurements. There were a few supermarkets, convenience stores, tobacco shops, and other merchant shops along the roads. Their doors were still open, as if the apocalyptic event occurred when the shops were still operating. The greenway in the districts hid some of the cars that were parked along the roads.
If they could ignore the fleeting human-shaped shadows behind the various windows in the buildings, the place would be considerably peaceful. "There seem to be only a few duoluozhongs around here," Reno muttered. He shone his flashlight into the distance, waving it around.
Lin Sanjiu bobbed on the spot, expressing that she agreed, base on what she saw. As the siblings only had their eyes corroded by black matter, there might be special occurrences where they may miss some duoluozhongs. However, that basically was not a problem for Lin Sanjiu in her higher consciousness form.
"In that case, let's find a place to rest... We haven't finished our conversation on the train." Reno certainly wasn't bothered by this small residential area. He grinned happily as he ran toward the residential building closest to them.
They opened the gate of the residential building while the sound of Rena's accessories jingled. This was a modern residential building, so the security room and elevator lobby were on the first floor, while the residential apartments were upstairs.
"Are you two stupid? There are elevators here, why do you want to take the stairs?"
Reno reached the elevators first, he paused and looked at the elevator which had stopped on the 26th floor. He called his sister and the grayish brain which was flying toward the stairs. He pressed the button for the elevator and the upward arrow on the button lit up. Following which, the elevator gradually came down, as the number on the elevator display slowly decreased.
"There are many supernatural stories surrounding elevators..." Lin Sanjiu thought inwardly. However, she had two capable teenagers with her and she herself was just a higher consciousness entity. Naturally, she didn't have much to fear. When the elevator doors opened, she followed Reno and entered without any hesitation.
"Rena, hurry up!"
The girl only hurried into the elevator after her brother urged her impatiently. "Which floor should we go?"
"Why don't we go to where the elevator was previously? 26th floor."
Reno pressed the button showing 26, and it lit up.
The elevator glided upward.
"Erm, who was the one who suggested 26th floor just now?!" Rena asked in shock.
Chapter 201 - If You Don't Heed the Advice of Your Elders
This question instantly stirred the hornet's nest. Reno immediately leaped to the side of the elevator, pressing his back against the wall of the elevator. His youthful face was filled with shock, "Didn't you say that?"
Rena reacted in the same way as her brother. Lin Sanjiu didn't know if that perfect coordination was developed through nature or nurture. "Bullshit! If I had said that, would I ask that question?!"
This was probably the first time the siblings encountered such a thing. They looked a little fl.u.s.tered as they turned to the grayish brain beside them unwittingly. Of course, this wasn't because they suspected that she could suddenly speak, but Lin Sanjiu was the only who could see everything in her current form. Lin Sanjiu floated around the space in the elevator for some time but she spelled two words which made all of them anxious, "No one."
There was total silence for a second before Reno grumbled, "That voice belonged to a woman!"
"Yes! I think so too... But why can't we see it? Is it outside the elevator?"
If Lin Sanjiu had her hands, she wanted to hit both of them on the back of their heads. They acted all impressive when they were on the train just because they could see the duoluozhongs in the train. But, once they encounter this "invisible" intruder, the siblings totally forgot what they were supposed to do—but, this wasn't the time to think about that.
"Is the effect of the curse from the almanac over?"
The siblings only thought to react then. Regardless what said those words, if that thing wanted them to go to the 26th floor, it was best to avoid it. Reno scratched his head, realizing that he had lost his cool just now. He coughed and complimented Lin Sanjiu, reservedly, "Um, you did well just now. But honestly, I wasn't afraid."
"I really need to sigh. " Without her body, Lin Sanjiu could only think about this silently.
Even though the kids weren't that reliable because of their lack of experience, they had the basic instinct of every posthuman. When the elevator stopped with a 'ding' on the 15 floor without any weird occurrence, Reno had already called out a page of his almanac while Rena was mumbling something. Her gloves immediately glowed.
[Hehe. We are the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SARFT)]
The name of this organization sounds foreign. In any case, no one in Red Nautilus had ever heard of it before, so they don't know which dimension it is from. However, it seems to have a powerful influence as it can provoke the negative reactions from billions of consumers.
At this stage, it had two parts: 1. [No depiction of body parts below the neck]; 2. [Superstition is banned after the founding of our country].
When part 1 was activated, the target would be treated by the 'SARFT' as a book or any sort of literature. When the target wants to move any part of his/her body below his/her neck, the ability would cause some interference, such the target's movements would be impeded. During any combat, this can almost be considered a cheat. However, the problems or interference caused by the ability are entirely based on chance. It is advisable that the user first uses a page from her brother's almanac to boost her luck before using this.
An important thing to note is that if the non-human entity has a very clear concept of himself/herself being born before 1949 1 , part 2 of the ability would be nullified.
The siblings had just prepared themselves when the door slowly opened.
When the door opened, the first thing they saw was the number 15 on the wall. The faded red paint of that number was peeling. A yellow light bulb lit the corridors which were filled with a strong scent of years of cooking oil and the sort of 'unclean' aura which uniquely belonged to old buildings.
However, they didn't see a single duoluozhong.
"Bro, let's get out, okay?" Rena suddenly blurted, thought she had already stepped out of the elevator. Before she stepped out, she even turned back to look into the elevator a little nervously. The empty elevator, without any passengers, looked like an empty metal box. There wasn't anything out of place. To their surprise, they managed to leave the elevator safely.
The siblings took the grayish brain with them as their footsteps rung out in the empty corridor. The houses along the corridors were all tightly shut. The siblings didn't have any specific goals as they came to this world plainly to train. Not anxious to get anywhere, they checked their surroundings carefully.
Despite having no eyes, using her higher consciousness, an image of the surroundings appeared in Lin Sanjiu mind. She could 'see' everything around her clearly, and perhaps this particular image was even clearer than her own vision. As the image was created using the area she could scan with her higher consciousness, it could show vague outlines of the angles where she may not even see if she had her eyes. At that point, Lin Sanjiu was near a corner of the wall, but she had the weird feeling that there was someone around the corner even though she logically shouldn't see it coming.
Before the siblings unknowingly made the turn at the end of the corridor, the grayish brain suddenly sunk lower to the ground, and rushed forward in a spinning manner. It hit the siblings causing them to stagger. With their enhanced agilities as posthumans, they quickly regained their balance but finally stopped.
"Why did you trip us?" Rena questioned rudely, remembering the punch to her nose.
"There's someone," Lin Sanjiu spelled two big words.
The siblings were startled and exchanged a glance before they peered at the end of the corridor together.
However, it was silent. There wasn't any movement around them. After a few seconds, Rena made a suggestion. She took a small mirror out from the pocket of her Tulle dress and pinched it with the tips of her fingers before she slowly stretched her hand towards the edge of the wall.
The mirror reflected only another dark corridor.
"What? You're just scaring us." Reno suddenly remarked and before Lin Sanjiu could spell another word, he walked over casually. Lin Sanjiu did not have a mouth so she couldn't even yell for him to stop.
Before he disappeared around the corner, nothing unusual happened...
Rena wanted to follow immediately but the grayish brain blocking her rammed into her shin. She hissed in pain and grabbed her shin.
"What are you doing? I'm getting angry—" Rena frowned furiously and turned to threaten Lin Sanjiu. Suddenly, the grayish brain floated to the air, spinning. It became a long arrow and pointed toward the corner.
Rena immediately turned behind and saw something black peeking out from the corner ahead of them.
It slowly protuded from the corner. That black stuff was just hair on a person's scalp. Rena knew this because she could now see Reno's face. Reno's face was at a 90° angle to his neck as he stuck his head out from the corner of the corridor. His body was still on the other side.
Rena's eyes widened. Before she could shriek, the face which seemed to be dangling in midair, suddenly revealed a smile. Lin Sanjiu had seen that smile many times—it was that perfect, large smile. Then, Reno whispered each word clearly, "Come here." Year of estabilishment of People's Republic of China.
Chapter 202 - Are You F*cking Kidding Me?
Ultimately, Rena screamed and her voice echoed in the corridor. She was standing directly in front of Reno's grinning face, they were almost touching each other's face. Rena quickly backed away from him and nearly tripped. Lin Sanjiu's past 24 hours in Kisaragi Station World were just filled with these constant scares. Now, that she was in a higher consciousness form, she ignored her fear and immediately rammed herself into Reno's face. The momentum threw him backward by more than a meter and he tumbled to the ground.
"What... what happened?" Rena regained her composure and rushed over holding up a fist. She was unsure if she should hit him.
"Ugh! Stop hitting me! It hurts..." Reno suddenly uttered unexpectedly. His head was now in a normal position—as it turned out, he probably used the wall as a support before turning his head at that weird angle. He held his nose and lifted his tear-covered face, "It was just a prank. Why are you guys overreacting?"
The grayish brain paused for a moment in mid-air before it showed the words: "Beat him". Rena howled and pounced on him, pounding his face with her fists of fury while Reno begged her to stop.
"This isn't the right time to create trouble!" Rena sounded angry even though she stopped punching her brother. She kicked her brother hard with her pink Mary Jane shoes, "You're lucky we didn't whack you to death mistaking you for a ghost!"
"Let's forget this happened," Reno was covered in dust. Seeing that the grayish brain seemed to be poising itself for another attack, he quickly changed the subject, "Actually, Lin Sanjiu was right. When I walked around the corner, I felt a presence."
Rena and Lin Sanjiu instantly quietened down. Rena frowned, "A duoluozhong?"
"I'm not sure..." Reno looked at the corridor cautiously, "I can't see that thing. I only felt it rushing toward me... Do you understand? The feeling when you can't see or touch something, but you just kno
w it's there..."
"When it was about to land on me, my special item helped me block that attack," Reno patted his c.h.e.s.t. There seemed to be something under his shirt. "Without this, I don't know what would have happened to me... At that moment, I felt a chill in my bones."
Lin Sanjiu was alarmed by his description. " Was Reno nearly consumed by dark matter? Could the name of this place explain why the siblings are suddenly unable to see the duoluozhongs here?"
Lin Sanjiu was lost in her thoughts when she turned her 'head' and realized that Rena's expression looked a little off. Rena furrowed her brows and appeared doubtful. She looked at the corridor, and at her brother. Somehow, Lin Sanjiu felt that the girl was puzzled by something else.
"Isn't this station called 'The Invisible Place'? It isn't that weird that we can't see them, right?" Before Lin Sanjiu could think more about it, Rena suddenly commented. She spoke as quickly as before and didn't sound any different, "But more importantly, what should we do right now?"
"Since you two have lost your biggest advantage over those duoluozhongs, isn't it obvious? " Lin Sanjiu thought to herself.
However, Reno's reply instantly made Lin Sanjiu feel old.
"Didn't we come here to train ourselves? I find it rather meaningless to fight against those duoluozhongs we can see. It isn't challenging at all. We might as well go home to kill chickens." Reno laughed high-spiritedly. He even had a carefree expression. "Now that there is a bit of challenge, we should take advantage of this! I've decided. Let's stay here tonight. Once we get rid of the duoluozhongs here, I want to go to the 26th floor!"
Rena agreed without any hesitation, as if she was already used to such situations. On the other hand, Lin Sanjiu was so shocked that she nearly lost control over her floating. Even though she spelled "I oppose" and kept the words in mid-air for a long time, the siblings seemed to ignore the opinions of the brain following them and had already started searching for a unit to stay in.